


A Jewel So Sacred

by annabeth



Series: Two sides of the same jewel [2]
Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: Angst, F/M, Unacknowledged Feelings, emotionally constipated boy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:34:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24111394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/annabeth/pseuds/annabeth
Summary: Sometimes when he looked into Kagome's eyes, he asked himself questions he didn't know how to answer.
Relationships: Higurashi Kagome & InuYasha, Inuyasha/Kikyou (mentioned)
Series: Two sides of the same jewel [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1739698
Kudos: 6





	A Jewel So Sacred

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt "foolish" for Get Your Words Out Yahtzee.

"I'm going to kill you, Naraku!" Inuyasha shouted, rushing forward with Tetsusaiga brandished. Naraku simply laughed, generating a toxic miasma that was dark enough to hide him. The clouds of miasma rose into the air, and even when Inuyasha unleashed the Wind Scar, it was too late; moments later, the sky cleared.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, and he sheathed his Tetsusaiga before turning towards her. Her hair was mussed and she had scratches on her face—collateral damage from the battle with Naraku.

"Are you alright?" he asked, quickly swooping towards her. He touched her face, turning it to examine her; distantly, he acknowledged that her skin was so soft—like Kikyo's had been. Like Kikyo's probably still was, he thought to himself, even though now she was a dead woman walking.

Naraku had threatened Kagome directly, trying with his _youkai_ appendages to grab the Sacred Jewel shards that Kagome wore around her neck, but one shot with her sacred arrows had driven him back enough for Inuyasha to protect her.

Much like fifty years ago, when Naraku had pitted Inuyasha and Kikyo against each other, his dirty tricks had not changed. Inuyasha was rarely afraid—he was actually never afraid for himself—but he'd felt _something_ every time Kagome was in danger. He couldn't remember feeling this way about Kikyo; Kikyo had been more than able to protect herself, and though he worried and wanted to keep her safe, he didn't feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility towards her like he did towards Kagome.

"Mm, I'm fine," Kagome said. She smiled—maybe a little too bravely, Inuyasha thought—and stepped towards him. "But, Inuyasha, you're bleeding." Her eyes went to his torso, where one of Naraku's appendages had pierced Inuyasha, stabbing through his chest.

"Nah, I'll be fine," Inuyasha said, even as he grunted from pain he'd barely felt until Kagome drew attention to it. "It's just—"

"If you say it's just a flesh wound, Inuyasha—" Kagome warned. "I saw that _youkai_ tentacle spear you through and through. You need to rest! We'll go back to Kaede's village, and patch you up."

"Hunh. Not a chance," Inuyasha said. "I can still smell Naraku; I'm going after him."

"Listen to Kagome, Inuyasha," Miroku said, his staff jingling as he walked closer. Inuyasha knew how much Miroku hated feeling useless in these battles, but the poison insects kept him from using his wind tunnel—something that Inuyasha was sorry for, especially in this case, when Naraku was going after Kagome and Miroku was right next to her, but couldn't do much more than bat _youkai_ tentacles out of the way.

"I'm the only one who can protect Kagome," Inuyasha said. "And Naraku won't stop trying to get the jewel shards. I can't afford to be out of commission."

"Inuyasha, please. We all want to kill Naraku, but forging blindly ahead while injured is foolish," Sango said, climbing down off Kirara, who shrank back into her smaller form.

"But we don't have any time to waste!" Inuyasha cried, and then there was a small, warm hand on his arm, and Inuyasha met Kagome's eyes. She was frowning, and Inuyasha immediately felt regret. It was his fault she kept getting hurt. He hadn't killed Naraku, and so Kagome was always in danger. He couldn't even carry the jewel shards for her, because no one trusted him with them.

He knew they shouldn't, that a single jewel shard was enough to make any _youkai_ feel powerful, or even a pathetic _hanyou_ like himself, but sometimes when he looked into Kagome's eyes, he asked himself questions he didn't know how to answer.

When Kikyo had asked him to become human, he had loved her so much, had needed her love so much, that he was willing to do anything. Things were different with Kagome. She was no super-strong priestess like Kikyo had been. She could use a sacred arrow, but needed constant protection, and Inuyasha felt inadequate when he was ravaging _youkai_ but still Kagome was kidnapped or held hostage.

It happened all too often.

No. The best course of action in this case was to find the rest of the jewel shards, to capture Naraku long enough to take the Sacred Jewel back, and then kill Naraku—all things Inuyasha fully intended on doing. And then he would become full _youkai_ , and Kagome would always be safe.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said softly, her hand still warm where it rested on his arm. Gazing into her eyes, he could feel the pain in his abdomen, the sharp, acid burning of Naraku's toxins and the blood that soaked his fire-rat cloak. "Please. Let me bandage you up. You need to rest."

"Hmph," Inuyasha said, looking away from her. He felt uncomfortable looking into her eyes, but he didn't understand why; still, he wasn't about to give in. Naraku was out there—right now!—and it was Inuyasha's duty to slay him, to make Kagome safe. Otherwise he might as well send her home for good. "I don't need to rest, I'm no weakling like you all," he said, and Shippo suddenly popped up on Kagome's shoulder.

"Hey! I'm a full _youkai_ , I'm not a weakling!" he said, and Kagome glanced at him.

"None of us are weaklings," Miroku said, folding his hands together.

"Miroku's right," Sango said. "Being human doesn't make a person weak, Inuyasha. But we _do_ get tired."

"And I know you get tired too," Kagome chimed in, smiling at him. He could see that her smile was worn at the edges, and there were dark circles under her eyes. The scratches on her face were oozing blood, and the smell turned Inuyasha's stomach. Human blood almost always turned his stomach—unless he was transformed into his _youkai_ form—but Kagome's in particular filled him with revulsion, though he didn't understand why.

He harrumphed, but when she smiled at him like that, he felt something throb in his core. He'd never considered whether he could love anyone besides Kikyo, but there was no denying that he cared about Kagome, even though it made him weak. His _hanyou_ blood was already a disadvantage, he shouldn't _care_.

But Kagome, and the traveling companions she'd accumulated along the way, had thawed something in his heart that had been frozen in time since Kikyo had pinned him to that tree. When Kagome had broken the spell on his body, his heart had remained unchanged, untroubled, until recently.

Now he didn't understand what he felt. Kikyo was never far from his mind, but Kagome had disrupted his natural rhythms, had made him _feel_ things again. Sometimes he looked at her and felt queerly out of sync, like his human blood and _youkai_ blood were warring with each other. He didn't usually feel that way, but something about Kagome unsettled him, and he didn't know why.

"I ain't tired," Inuyasha insisted, but when Kagome removed her hand, he wobbled on his feet. The wound, with the poison in it, was making him dizzy. Maybe Kagome was right. Maybe he ought to just do as she said. But Inuyasha shook his head violently. He couldn't think that way! "Naraku is getting away!" he said, waving his arm wildly. "His scent is fading. We have to go after him _now_ before he builds another barrier and I can't smell him!"

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, her dark eyes sad. "It hurts me when you try to rush off half-cocked and injured. Can't you just be reasonable for once?"

"I'm always reasonable," Inuyasha said, sneaking a look at her out of the corner of his eye. She huffed in exasperation, her face betraying her frustration. "What? I am! This is reasonable! We need to kill Naraku—"

"Inuyasha! You go haring after every _youkai_ in the land, and almost get yourself killed constantly!" Kagome yelled. "That's not reasonable, it's stupid! Inuyasha, you fool! I'm going home." Kagome stomped off, and Inuyasha took a step towards her, but both Miroku and Sango shook their heads.

God, she was beautiful in a towering temper, even walking away from him.

Too bad he still didn't understand what it all meant.


End file.
